It was a quiet August bank holiday, filled with grown up things like DIY and free street festivals. I’m not complaining though, because I’ve energy and money to party this weekend.

I’ll be making the short journey from Manchester to Park Hall Hotel for Camelot, an 18-hour party ran by the organisers of Southport Weekender.

The line up is an impressive mixture of local, national and international names. The likes of The Unabombers, Dimitri From Paris and Ron Trent stand side by side with Afro-Coalition DJs, James Morgan from Liverpool night Hustle and Stretford Dogs Club of Development fame.

The parade, main stage performances and food are the main attractions of this free annual, family event, which is taking place at its temporary home of Plattfields Park this weekend.

What swings it for me, however, are the sound systems, pumping out good vibes and happiness to the sunshine crowd. Here is a quick run down of some of the things you can expect if you fancy a dance at Carnival 2014:

Inna Deep/Community – Saturday and Sunday

This is the house music sound system, hosted by Inna Deep promoter Wayne Mantrax and Community main man Irfan Rainy.

Basically, it’s the biggest and loudest one there. Some may already know the music policy and understand their party-hosting skills after attending their events around the city, but just in case you don’t: it’s amazing.

Red Bull Music Academy Sound System – Saturday only

Now this is a bit fancy, in a ‘Ooo, carnival is becoming more recognised’ kind of way. It will be the first time that, I’m aware of, carnival will host a bass-heavy stage with nationally recognised head liners.

DJ Hype is an established favourite on the d’n’b scene, Gone Out favourites Murkage will turn up the levels to a point where if it went any further, it would be socially unacceptable, and Mancunian legend Chimpo will bring even more madness. And that’s just covering 3 acts from 10. I tenner bet you that the word VIBEZ will be the buzzword of the day.

Sound System Culture

This Huddersfield sound system may or may not be here this year – I’ve not seen any confirmation of it. Even if it’s not here, with it’s amazing wooden speakers, no doubt you’ll see a different one. What’s carnival without a reggae, dancehall and soca soundsystem?

Northern soul has always been part of my life as my parents identified as mods in their teens and 20s. Maybe I’ve got a more honed radar for the genre because of this, but I’ve noticed that it’s always in and out of the media spotlight. Most recently, Pharrell Williams and the Manchester Northern Soul Dancers paid homage at the BRITS but the Northern Soul Dance School’s upcoming workshop will give newcomers the opportunity to discover there’s more to the genre.

The school is already a festival favourite; party goers at Kendal Calling, Lunar Festival and Festival No. 6 have enjoyed the classes.

Manchester dancers will now get the chance to spin, kick and maybe flip (it’s a beginners class) around the Night and Day dance floor to classic tracks from the likes of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and Al Wilson… you know, the guy who sang that Snake song on the Lambrini advert.

I’m getting all MTV with my ‘takeover’ talk about these 2 parties. That’s where the similarity ends because some will agree how the quality of the programming for Rag Tag/Soul Flute and Better Days is much more talented than what’s on the aforementioned television channel right now.

There’s just over a week to go before New York hip-hop and house producer and selector DJ Spinna plays at Dry Bar basement, Dry Live, on Friday 14th June, while Rahaan’s boogie, disco and funk skills will be more than welcome at the First Chop Brewing Arm on the 27th.

DJ Spinna and Rahaan both possess quality skills which can keep the dance floor moving all night. Even Stevie Wonder turns up to Spinna’s parties. If it’s good enough for Stevie…

Tickets for Rag Tag and So Flute hosts DJ Spinna are available from Skiddle.com.

With the same name as his LA/NYC club night, ‘Church’s’ 3 main components are live dance party (obviously), jazz club and electronic remix experiments (such as going to a club and watching them create beats from scratch).

When Sounds From The Other City’s (SFTOC) organisers took to Twitter looking for volunteers to man their 10th anniversary party taking place this Sunday (04/05), I decided to go ahead and make the most of the opportunity.

Free access to see the likes of Rosie Lowe, PINS, Werkha, enjoy food (prepared and served by Drum and Baste, Fire and Salt BBQ and Deli Lama) and drink plus the opportunity to make new contacts at this much-loved festival are obvious reasons for me to offer my services.

I also loved the unique, off the wall vibe when I attended in the past, such as being able to walk through Salford to discover the madness of Hotpants Romance in the middle of a pub and this time around, I’m intrigued at being able to dance to jungle in a church. So I was more than interested in being a part of it all.

Pre-event

I was invited by Jamie, SFTOC’s lovely volunteer organiser lady, to Islington Mill for a meeting with my fellow volunteers on Wednesday. We got to know one another and learn about the SFTOC venues. We also met Mark and Riv, who form the rest of the management team, were briefed on the stages plus given a tour of the venues.

Jamie assigned roles to each member of the group, including ticket exchange roles, manning the various venues such as The Old Pint Pot and The Angel Centre. I was told that I’d be Jamie’s right-hand man, keeping a eye on everything going on. Which is pretty exciting.

I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and experience what promises to be a great day, from an operational point of view. I’ll be tweeting updates and pictures on the day @karolynsgoneout and afterwards there’ll be full report of what it’s like to be a music festival volunteer, here. There are so many festivals going on this summer, in the UK and abroad, perfect whether you want work experience, the chance to see some of your favourite artists for free or just have a laugh.

When I first started clubbing, I was of the opinion that a trip to Ibiza was obligatory. I quickly changed my mind after hearing stories of how costly it can be. But I’m a person that has to experience something before casting judgement. There’s always been a niggling in the back of my mind; “well, I’m sure I could make it work for me”.

I get to try before I buy tonight. ANTS is usually an open-air affair at beach hotel Ushaia in Playa d’en Bossa but before the season begins, it’s making its way to Sankeys Manchester for its first ever UK show.

Open-air Ibiza vibez at Ushaia

ANTS resident, Andrea Oliva is joined by South African DJ superstar Black Coffee and Manchester’s own Irfan Rainy and Toots in the main room for tech, soulful and deep house styles. Spectrum upstairs will be headlined by Brett Jacobs for the Departure club night.

Check out this mix by Andrea Oliva, made exclusively for Sankeys. Perfect for getting ready to and getting in the mood.